Environment

Labour has warned that a household taking out a 25 year Green Deal package worth £10,000 at the standard 6.96 per cent rate of interest would end up repaying close to £21,000 over the course of the loan, potentially undermining some of the resulting increase in house prices. … [Read more...] about Green deal makeover could boost property values by £16,000

A spokesperson for rival power company Eon said special treatment should be avoided. “Our view is very much that each time special treatment is granted for a specific named plant, investments in emissions abatement that have been made in good faith, on the assumption that regulations will be implemented consistently, are undermined.” … [Read more...] about UK lobbying to keep open one of Europe’s dirtiest coal power stations

A series of analyses have shown that the coal, oil and gas industry already have three times more fossil fuels ready to be extracted than can be burned, if the pledge by the world’s governments to keep global warming under 2C is to be kept. The campaigners argue that the fossil fuel industry is therefore not just a threat to the climate, but also to investors’ money, as trillions of dollars is being spent exploring for fossil fuels that will be worthless if climate change is tackled. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, told the Guardian in 2014: “We need an apartheid-style boycott to save the planet.” … [Read more...] about Cameron, Clegg and Miliband sign joint climate pledge

government is firmly opposing a proposed EU-wide target on renewable energy generation for 2030. Clean energy experts say this would spell disaster for investment, because the certainty provided by the current EU target – of generating 20% of energy from renewable sources by 2020 – has been key to spurring the development of alternative energy, which in turn has brought down costs and made low-carbon electricity more competitive with fossil fuels. … [Read more...] about Investment in renewables may get hit despite rise in wind farm subsidies

There are still millions of lofts and cavity walls to insulate and our ambition is to complete them all. But green deal and the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) will not be like previous schemes, ticking off one job for one property and moving on. Loft and cavity wall insulation are prime measures for inclusion in green deal packages alongside other work. Key is that people are advised so they understand everything their home needs. … [Read more...] about The green deal will be the biggest home energy programme of modern times